Lewis Hamilton clinches world championship

Summary

Lewis Hamilton has taken home his fourth F1 world championship in a weird, wonderful and wacky finish to the 2017 title race.

Max Verstappen raced out of his skin to take the win after a chaotic start saw Sebastian Vettel and Hamilton collide.

Daniel Ricciardo had another horror show early in the piece and retired before the 10th lap with a turbo issue. It is now the second race in the row the Aussie has failed to finish a race after last week’s US Grand Prix disaster.

A killer performance from Max Verstappen has seen the young gun take a stunning win at the Mexican Grand Prix.

The 20-year-old raced out of his skin to deny Lewis Hamilton a fairytale finish to his 2017 title race.

Hamilton finished ninth after being set back early due to a puncture sustained in a scuffle with Sebastian Vettel in the first lap.

Vettel needed to finish second or higher to keep himself in the title race.

Hamilton became the first driver since James Hunt in 1976 to win a world championship in the same race as being lapped.

Sebastian Vettel has worked his way into foruth behind teammate Kimi Raikkonen but as the race stands, Lewis Hamilton will be taking home the world championship in 10th position.

Vettel currently sits over 20 seconds behind Raikkonen. Meanwhile, Marcus Ericsson has been forced to retire late in the race with an engine fire.

Carlos Sainz joined Ericsson no the casualties list and became Renault’s second retirement of the race with engine issues.

Hamilton had a scrap with two-time world champ Fernando Alonso in the 66th lap as he tried to overtake the Spaniard. Hamilton eventually won his battle with the veteran and took ninth place going into the final two laps.

Lewis Hamilton has begun to recover and could possibly make his way into the top 10. The Brit had his race turned on its head in the first lap with a puncture after a collision, leading to him being lapped by Max Verstappen in first midway through the race. Sebastian Vettel, who was involved in Hamilton’s horror start, has made his way up to fifth.

Nico Hulkenberg has been forced out another Grand Prix with a battery issue rendering his car too dangerous to drive. Hulkenberg pulled over on the grass after experiencing the problem and was told to jump out immediately.

Daniel Ricciardo had to drop down the grid at the Mexican GP from seventh place after Red Bull opted to make engine changes.

Toro Rosso’s Brendon Hartley will also take a grid drop after a turbo failure stopped his car in qualifying, meaning five drivers now have grid penalties for Sunday evening’s race. Ricciardo, who struggled in qualifying, has collected a 20-place penalty for the use of a seventh MGU-H plus sixth main engine and turbocharger. Hartley, who qualified 13th after his car stopped in Q2, also has a 20-place demotion for a seventh engine, sixth turbocharger and seventh MGU-H.

The three other drivers already with penalties, McLaren’s Fernando Alonso and Stoffel Vandoorne along with Pierre Gasly in the other Toro Rosso, are set to remain in the grid’s final three positions respectively.

Ricciardo’s penalty means Felipe Massa is promoted into the top 10, while the Sauber and Haas cars all gain two places apiece with Hartley also dropping down.

Sebastian Vettel starts on pole position in a race he needs to outscore Lewis Hamilton, who starts third, by 17 points to keep the title race going to Brazil. Hamilton only needs to finish inside the top five to be sure of winning a fourth world title.